TIRANA, Feb. 11 Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Thursday said they had agreed with German company Deutsche Telekom to install electricity smart meters in a pilot project aiming at renovating an ailing energy system.
The Bonn-based company will install 10,000 smart meters in some areas in capital Tirana, Rama said, giving no details on the cost, only adding that consumers would nto be charged on that.
Power consumers will pay in advance for the amount of power they want to use, giving an end to the non-payment of an already dysfunctional state-run power sector.
The government, assisted with a $150 million (132 million euros) World Bank loan, is striving to persuade Albanians to settle old power debts and update an aged distribution network that have resulted so far with the loss of $550 million (485 million euros).
